Improvement in temporary binders



H. B. STEPHENSON.

TEMPORABYYBINDER. 7

$10,170,202. Patented Nov.23,1875.

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U IT D STATES PATENT HOWARD B. STEPHENSON, 0E TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. BENNETT.

1 IMPROVEMENT IN TEMPORARY BINDERS.

- l T Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 170,202, dated November 23, 1875; application filed October 18, 1875.

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that I,.HoWA RD B. STEPHEN- SON, of Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Binders for Papers or Letters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and'exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification.

The Object of my invention is to producea binder which shall not only be capable of temporarily holding and retaining papers or letters, but which shall afford means for permitting said papers or letters to be removed and be permanently secured together by part of.

the device which temporarily held them and it consists in the means more particularly hereinafter described and claimed.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my binder complete. Fig. 2 represents part of it detached. Fig. 3 shows the means for permanently binding the papers or letters together. Fig. 4 represents the papers or letters perma nently bound. Fig. 5 shows perspective and vertical views of a punch for use with the device shown in Fig. 3.

a is a crossbar, made of any suitable mate'- rial, width, thickness, and length, provided with one or more nuts, F, sunk in its surface. A handle, h, is provided with rods A, which are rigidly attached to the cross-bar a. in any suitable manner. A slide, 19, corresponding in length, breadth, and thickness to the crossbar a, and provided With a flange, g, at right angles'thereto, fits over the rods A, and is capable of being moved thereon. This slide is forced toward the cross-bar a by means of spiral springs S, encircling the rods A, one end thereof resting against shoulders t-upon said rods, and the other end upon the slide 11. It

is provided with an aperture or apertures, 01, and with a ring, 0, the latter forming a convenient means for raising it against the pressure of the springs S. Any means, such as a knob or handle, may be substituted for this ring. E represents a tube, split or bifurcated at one end, and provided with lips 1, projecting at right angles to its axis at the other end. These lips 1" may be formed by splitting the tube and then bending them, or by any of the common and well-known methods of doing this. Instead ofthese a flange may be turned up, or a washer maybe secured by riveting it thereon. When the papers or letters are to be temporarily held, one or more of these tubes is placed in the position shown in Fig. l, and a pin, B, having a conically-shaped head, 0, at one end, the base of which is larger than the body of the pin, and a screw-thread, f, at the other end, is placed in the tube or tubes E and screwed into the nut F.

' The device is then ready to receive papers or letters. To file them, the slide 12 is raised by means of the ring (J until it is above the heads- 6 of pins B, the latter having passed through the holes d, which are just large enough to permit this. The papers or letters are then placed with their edges resting against the flange 9 over the pins B. The cross-barb is then released, and the springs force the same and the papers or letters over the heads of the pins B and onto the tubes E. The flange 9 may be dispensed with, although I prefer to use it, since it affords a ready guide for the papers or letters when filing them. When a sufficient number of papers or lettershave been filed in this manner the pinsB are unscrewed from the nuts F on the cross-bar a, the slide 12 is raised, and the tubes E are removed with the papers or letters thereon. A washer, G, is then placed over the end of the tube, and the bifurcated ends of the latter are then bent over said'washer by means of the punch H, the boss 6- of which divides the bifurcations, and the lip m turns them down and partially or wholly severs their projecting ends. Instead of washers G these bifurcations can themselves be made to form means for retaining the papers or letters upon thetubes, or the tubes need not be bifurcated, but may be flanged by any of the common flanging devices after the sheets have been placed upon the tube or tubes in the manner described,

and the latter have been removed to form a permanent binding device.

Instead of screws on the ends of the pin or pins B, other means may be employed for securing the same to the cross-bar a. They may be provided with T-heads fitting in slots and recesses in the cross-bar a, or any of the common substitutes for the screw may be employed which enables the pin or pins to be FFIGE.

temporarily secured to the bar a, for the purpose described.

, The advantages possessed by my device are,

that it can be easily and cheaply manufactured. It affords a convenient means of securing the papers or letters, and the tubes which support the latter also form a means for permanently binding the papers or letters together.

Having thus fully described my invention and the advantages it possesses, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a bar, a, slide 12, pin or pins B, and tube or tubes E, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the cross-bar a, pin

or pins B, and tube or tubes E, substantially as shown and described.

3. The means of binding papers or letters together, consisting of a tube or tubes, E, open at both ends, having projections, washers, or flanges at one end, and split and adapted to receive like projections, flanges, or washers at the other end, substantially as shown and described.

4. The pin or pins B, tube or tubes E, and cross-bar a, in combination with the slide I), handle h, rods A, and springs S, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 

